Sony leads the way.
VR headset shipments will exceed 2 million units worldwide in 2016 and grow to 20 million by 2020, according to Singapore-based analyst firm, Canalys.
Sony has become the VR market leader with its PlayStation VR catering to the vast PlayStation 4 installed base. Canalys expects over 800,000 shipments in less than three months on the market.
While there has been no significant marketing activity for the Sony PlayStation VR during the holiday sales period, Black Friday and Cyber Monday’s US$100 discounts helped increase sales of HTC’s Vive in the US. HTC will ship around half a million units in 2016, putting the Vive in second place. Facebook’s Oculus Rift, meanwhile, is currently getting a boost from its Touch motion controllers and will reach almost 400,000 shipments this year.
Canalys analyst Jason Low said, “The VR market has barely begun, and Canalys believes it will take several years to ramp up. There are encouraging signs of consumer adoption and positive customer satisfaction, however, especially among gamers. Many billions of dollars of research and development are needed to continue advancing VR technology, form factors and software to further grow the industry.”